Movie AND Book Review: The Social Network / The Accidental Billionaires

Recently Maqz and I were talking on Countless Screaming Argonauts, the Podcast of Record, about movies that were not as good as the book they came from and movies that were better than the book. Well today I am going to review both a book and the movie it spawned. This is the story of Facebook.



The book is “The Accidental Billionaires” by Ben Mezrich. (For those interested, Mezrich was also the author of “Bringing Down the House” about the gambling MIT students, made into the movie “21,” another interesting combo, done successfully.) This book is about the founding of Facebook, its meteoritic rise to fame and fortune for its founder Mark Zuckerberg, and a detailing of the bodies left behind. Actually it is not that bad, Zuckerberg comes across as a socially awkward, possible Asberger’s young adult with a wonderful idea and set of skills to do what he wants to do. In the process he makes 65 Billion (that’s with a B) dollars. It is written in a narrative style and is most enjoyable. From the teenage antics to the California lifestyle, it is easy to identify with this kid and feel the excitement he must have felt as his project advances. We watch as this college student dream becomes a company and see the friendships and acquaintances left behind.



I would give this book 4 Penguins, my only issue being the abrupt ending. I understand that there were issues still to be resolved in the multiple lawsuits going on but still, he just stopped it. I wanted some more.



The movie is “The Social Network” which was released in October and gathered quite a significant number of excellent reviews. Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing and A Few Good Men among other credits) wrote the screenplay and his fingerprints are all over it. I like that style, the immediacy of the characters and their interactions, so I figured I would like the pace and style of the movie, and I did.

One of the marks of a good, successful book adaptation is having the movie characters being close to how they appeared in the book, so much so that you immediately recognize them for all they are worth. This movie captures this well with Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg, Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin, and Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker, leading the ensemble cast. Each captures the essence of his character, Eisenberg, the social awkwardness, Garfield, the business major with big dreams and Timberlake, as the paranoid, Silicon Valley wunderkind who turns everything he touches into gold and then back to straw. The movie is fast paced, filled with stylistic images and drives home the story well.



I give it 4 Penguins also, recommending it for almost everyone. If you have no interest in the internet (WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU?), you might be bored or confused by this story but I still think the relationships can carry the movie quite nicely.

To be fair, there are some inconsistencies in the movie when examined against the book. Timelines are fudged to make it all fit. Some of the obvious feelings are lost or covered over. Some of the reasoning is faulty. However in spite of that both the movie and the book stand independently on their own, as well as well together. This is quite a coup in my book when the book and movie are equally good. They entertain and enlighten. What more can you ask.